FOOTBALL’S reputation is badly tarnished.

It has lost its moral compass.

Some players cheat and dive on the pitch; others refuse even to enter the field of play, and clubs seem willing to sell their heritage to the highest bidder.

And if Chelsea, having bought a manager at the start of the season for £13m really do pay him off for £20m after only a couple of months, the game will have become completely detached from the reality of life in a deep recession.

Last night, our story about Middlesbrough FC’s caring attitude towards former player Gary Parkinson was generating national interest.

Parkinson is suffering from a devastating condition called locked-in syndrome. The 43-year-old is almost completed paralysed yet is aware of all that is going on around him.

It would be easier, and simpler, for the club to forget about him, yet Boro manager Tony Mowbray – who played with Parkinson in the Eighties – has gone out of his way to include him in the running of the club. He sends him DVDs of trialists, and Parkinson rates their potential by blinking.

“We were determined to give Gary a role where he could feel involved,” said Mowbray, as we reported on yesterday’s front page. “Not only that, I genuinely value his opinions.

“Long after he ceases to be headline news, we will still be there for him.”

This goes right back to the basics of what sport is all about and why millions of people, from Sunday league level right up to the top of the tree, are so passionate about it: strength through teamwork and comradeship.

Parkinson’s condition is improving slowly. As well as the rehabilitation he receives in Bury, some of that improvement must be down to keeping his brain active and knowing that he is still valued and respected.

The beautiful game may be tarnished, but some parts of it still glisten.